You are MOST WELCOME Eric, and I hope everyone reading and contributing to this thread will do the same. This is a very valuable thread for all of us, especially those of us without warranty coverage, the rank I will be joining soon unfortunately. However, I just heard from the tech at Glodyne Decision One and he told me that I should have a service call possibly by Wed next week. NOT good enough by any means, but little choice I suppose. They are going to install another new print head, the third one. Didn't mention anything about the Pump/Cap Assembly, which is the standard go-to part with them it would seem. I imagine Epson will be VERY glad to see the end of my warranty extensions.

I have recently cleaned the Wiper Blade for the first time since the last Pump/Cap Assembly was installed. It was actually surprisingly clean, but even better now of course. All of the tests I've done concerning this latest issue have been printed on 8.5x11 Prm Luster, the size I generally use for most of my testing(5-2x8" tests per sht). Now get this, the tech said the latest issue could have something to do with that paper size. I then replied that I have never seen this problem before. His reply to that was that no one uses that size paper on a 9900. I agree it is perhaps a bit of overkill to be printing an 8x10 on a 44" printer, but WTH does that have to do with anything? I ask you Eric, WHAT? I could hardly believe my ears when I heard him say that. So I suppose Epson should include that caveat in the Users Manual, the 9900 should be used only for paper sizes larger that 8.5x11. Otherwise one might expect problems. I believe the more appropriate Epson warning would be to NEVER, under any circumstances, rely on anyone at D1 to actually know WTH they're talking about. Perhaps this is stepping a bit over the line, but past experience has made me very reluctant to trust that company for any sort of reliable information or service. They will definitely NOT be getting any business from me after my warranty has expired. I will be relying on your site and my own mechanical experience to solve my problems as much as possible. Your vids are very easy to follow and I know a print head replacement is not out of the realm of possibility.

Well, I really must get moving here for now, but I will post agin soon to ask another question.

Again, I salute you for your work and imparting the knowledge you have accumulated to this community Eric. Take care!

Sorry Matt race season is upon me. The walls of time are closing in on me so I have to make this quick:

In the background I have been working on a capping station theory which compliments Lee's suggestion. Good time to mention it now I guess. I plan to modify the right side cover on this 9900. I will make it easily removable. Idea is to release the head, slide it to the side, roll the capping station manually into view, check that it's clean then spray it with a mixture of distilled water and glycerin - a humectant. This will have to be tested of course but the hope is it will help keep the head from drying.

Interesting ideas Eric and Lee. As a matter of fact I was about to ask if you might entertain the idea of putting together a video on replacing the capping station at some point, but this certainly seems very plausible as well. Reminds me of my approach to my two 7600s, one of which I still use(sold the other one a couple of years ago). After using the printers for a couple of years and removing the right end cover to gain access to the cap/pump assembly and clean the wiper, I decided one day to leave the cover off permanently. Mounted the control panel on the front metal body just to the left of where the cover would normally reside and have been working that way ever since. I keep a piece of plastic over the workings to prevent dust etc from accumulating, but this way I can remove the cap station, clean it and the wiper and reinstall within half an hour, no problem. What you are proposing sounds somewhat like an offshoot of what I've been doing, so I'm anxious to see the final results of that research as well. I'm sure that whatever you do will work very well and will benefit all of us.

Good luck at the track Eric. Keep focused on the vehicle and leave the X900 where it belongs. There's a great little book I read a while back, might interest you as well. "The Art Of Racing In The Rain", an interesting read and I'm pretty sure could identify with it in many ways.

Is there a sado masochistic relationship between Epson, its wide format printers and customers? Are printers ritually dissected? Do service men appear in black leather or vinyl to repair printers? Are fines paid to continue this torture? Not even Epson seems to mind the exposure of this relationship. No cries of disgust are heard when torn apart parts are shown in gory detail.

I read this thread less and less but I can not resist the temptation to look for a new episode from time to time. It is true, I am a voyeur and not one with compassion for victim or torturer. Being confronted for years with stories like this you can only think they must like one another for some reason.

Next time I might consider another perspective; similarities in The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha and Epson 7900 from the inside - out.

Is there a sado masochistic relationship between Epson, its wide format printers and customers? Are printers ritually dissected? Do service men appear in black leather or vinyl to repair printers? Are fines paid to continue this torture? Not even Epson seems to mind the exposure of this relationship. No cries of disgust are heard when torn apart parts are shown in gory detail.

I read this thread less and less but I can not resist the temptation to look for a new episode from time to time. It is true, I am a voyeur and not one with compassion for victim or torturer. Being confronted for years with stories like this you can only think they must like one another for some reason.

Next time I might consider another perspective; similarities in The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha and Epson 7900 from the inside - out.

I agree with much of what you write. To some extent tongue in cheek, but I think more a serious tone than not. I too will admit to not reading this thread daily, but I certainly do tune in on a regular basis to more or less catch up. As I mentioned in my post, I will soon be part of the great unwashed as well, those without warranty. And, having traveled down a rather rocky road, mounted atop my trusty steed Rocinante(my new name for the 9900 by the way), I will have to take the time to contemplate which windmill I will tilt toward next. Draw my rusty sword and step up to the challenge. Yes indeed, sometimes the service techs do appear clad in their leathers, wielding their tools and gnawing at the opportunity to delve once more into the heart of the Epson beast. Now of course all of this is said due to my own particular experience with my printer. Let me say upfront that this 9900 has NEVER been abused in any way. Always kept in a clean environment and handled with care. However, as we all know, there are simply some occasions when a piece of equipment seems to be possessed. Hmmm...perhaps an Epson exorcism is in order here. Maybe I could convince Eric to don his robes, bring his hammer and take his life in his hands in the Great White North. Say a few choice words over the 9900 and hope it does indeed do some magic. Oh ya, I've done that many times without success(sans robes and hammer), but definitely the 'choice' words. Oh no, I wouldn't dare approach it with hammer in hand, too tempting. Actually I'm somewhat surprised that you read this thread at all Ernst, being a HP/Canon devotee(sorry, I don't remember which). Well actually, perhaps I do understand, a gleeful glint in your eye as you peruse this thread and inwardly chuckle at the woes of us lowly Epson followers. Tongue in cheek on my part there Ernst, since I don't believe you are the sort of person to belittle the problems of others. At this point the only thing left is to make light of the situation when possible, and this is a good outlet. Thanks for the post Ernst.

And to 'enduser', the answer is YES! There, satisfied? I have indeed given that a lot of thought. However I doubt that I will be working at this for many more years, so I suppose I'll stick with Epson until it wears me out completely. Then they can stuff us both in the same box perhaps and ship us back to the manufacturer, whomever that may be. Of course there is another reason for my stubbornness. I get all of my Epson products at dealer net, so that's quite an incentive. There's also the fact that I have been using Epson printers for many years and have NEVER encountered the volume of issues that have occurred with the 9900. There are a lot of X900 users who experience none of these problems, at least not to the extent I have. As we all understand, there are simply some pieces of equipment that should come supplied with a can of Lemon coloured paint and a brush. Call it what it is, but don't speak too loudly. I'm of the impression that it also has ears.

Upon executing a PK to MK maneuver and proceeding to Canvas 1620 in the Epsonian cluster, a red alert was sounded that there were missing nozzles in MK and the Cyan channel had dropped out completely

Cyan at 1% too low- too clean, so a new cart was placed in the bay by the engineering staff and charged up to do a standard C/VM pairs clean and test run,Thinking this could be an Canon/HP attack I procceded with phasers and photon torpedoes ready to do a powered clean, just to be on the safe side. This failed to materialize the cyan channel Shut down all non essential life support systems and rebooted.Had the engineering staff engage another standard C/VM pair clean and test. Cyan back on line, and all MK nozzles clear,Put the old 1%cyan back in... Good work Scotty!A sigh of relief could be heard throughout the ship ,and we resumed course to Canvas 1620 in the Epsonian cluster, and a rendevous with Starship 9890 later in the day.

I have only experienced complete and large channel dropouts when carts are at 1%.This is a ink delivery -pressurization problem not a nozzle problem!Doing power cleans, especially in rapid succession, is a sure way to destroy the nozzlesNever freak out and do power cleans when you get a complete channel drop out , give it a chance to come back on it's own !

Good job Captain David(AKA - James Tiberius). Indeed those red alerts can often invoke actions unsuited to the Epson Starship, but a bit of intergalactic fun is nothing to be concerned about. So in the words of Jean Luc - "Make it so!" Warp speed and onward. And of course the best of them all, Mr. Spock's words to all of us star travellers....Live long and prosper! Great words to travel by, except that I believe the Borg Collective has now taken control of the Starship 9900 and indeed, resistance IS futile. I could go on like this all night long, activity truly unbecoming an old Trekie. But why would that concern me at this stage? Only Kirk would know the answer to that, and he seems to have left the building.

Does anywone know of software that will make a 7900/9900 print separate color bars for each of the 10 inks for test and purge? MIS had a program for the 2400, but doesn't seem to have one for the 7900.

Does anywone know of software that will make a 7900/9900 print separate color bars for each of the 10 inks for test and purge? MIS had a program for the 2400, but doesn't seem to have one for the 7900.

Hi EveryoneI am new and came across this forum because I have the 7900 woes.I bought one used and am not able to get past an error in the boot up phase.If anyone can shed some light on my problem I would appreciate it.Here's what happens:If I insert the ink cartridges in, up to 10, the machine will recognize them and accurately show their ink amount and the one empty bay saying: "No cartridge Install ink cartridge"As soon as I push that last one in, the printer does its little boot up procedure and them announces:"Ink cartridge error Replace ink cartridge" and flashes ALL compartments as empty with the red circle and white cross; not one cart is seen.It does not matter which cartridge is left as the last one to be inserted. They all register accurately until that last one is pushed in.I believe that the machine is satisfied they are all present and filled enough and moves on to its next boot up item and flashes this error.It is so fast but I imagine I can see the display showing the carts are ok before the "Ink cartridge error Replace ink cartridge" but it might take some slow motion photography to confirm this.Nevertheless I am stumped.The cost of parts alone is $1200 and for a tech to knock on the door $100, to come in and cough $175 per hour.If that gets resolved there is no guarantee the head will print.I am sure it is worth every penny but I have so few these days.So can anyone offer some insight into this mysterious behavior?Thanks in advance, Peter

Have you read through the service manual? I looked it up for you and it suggests four things to do when you get the "NO CARTRIDGE INSTALL INK CARTRIDGE" message:

1 - (and this is clever) Install the ink Cartridge.2 - Remove the Ink Cartridge once, and install it again correctly.3 - Check the connection between the Ink Cartridge and the Main Board Assy.4 - Replace the Ink Cartridge with a new one

You say you bought it used - did you see it run before you bought it? If so maybe it's #3, a loose connection. Could be it got dislodged while moving?

Try to press the ink output hole on the cart with a paperclip and blow some air in the nipple near by with a tube to eliminate bubles in the cart. It is explianed in the service manual, page 226.

Error Message: INK CARTRIDGE ERROR: REPLACE INK CARTRIDGE Explanation of Error:The CSIC Chip reports ink in the Cartridge, but the Ink Out Sensor (located where the ink leaves the Cartridge) reports no ink.Cause of Error:Tiny air bubbles in the Ink Out Sensor. Repair Strategy:Remove the tiny air bubbles from the Ink Out Sensor. Repair Detail:. Use the paper clip to open the Ink Valve, and release a small amount of ink and the trapped air. This Cartridge did contain air bubbles in the ink. The small amount of air in the ink is enough to cause the error.

John Caldwel just had this on a brand new 9900. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=75136.msg599240#msg599240 D1 replaced the main board,but they just love to replace parts willy nilly, especially when Epson pays for them under warrantee.Try jiggling and reseating the ribbon cables on both cart bays and the main board and also the bay doors interlock, especially the one that you are closing last that gives you the error, before you resort to parts.I recently had my 9890 do the same thing when booting up ,turns out the right door was ajar (I wonder how a door can be a jar?) I don't believe one bad cart would cause all to show as not registering, especially if you change the insertion order.David

I installed a new wiper blade in my Epson 7900, and when I shut down from Service Mode and restart in normal mode I get a white screen with "Code 1489" and the message that I should try restarting again and if still a problem call Epson.

Gulp….

Everything appeared to go smoothly and easily, however:* I was a little surprised that when I "snapped" the wiper blade assembly into place, the assembly wasn't at a uniform distance: slightly more towards me at the bottom than the top, but it did "snap" into place. I can't remember what it looked like before I started. I have tried fiddling it to see whether I can get it to be a uniform distance and don't seem able to do this; it does seem to be naturally "seated" where it is and I don't want to force anything.* It required me to agree to "Cleaning", and I then had to change two of the ink cartridges, and then it appeared to clean ok in Service mode, though possibly with a little more sound effects. But as noted, I can't get back into normal mode without the white screen Code 1489 appearing.

Any ideas would be much appreciated, as I am stopped and at my wits end as to what to do here.

Hi Thanks for all your responses.I like the one about the cables and the door ajar.Eric, I do have the service manual but nowhere does it allude to any 10 carts being inserted with success, in any order, and the printer going only wacko with the 11th and saying there are no carts all. 8 of the carts are brand spanking new and I burped the not-so-new ones.I bought the printer and the owner mentioned this problem as to why he had put the printer out to pasture but exclaimed, when I was buying it, that the problem was no longer there. That was probably because he was a cartridge short and so the remaining carts were registering just fine.Any way, one of the doors is just a tad wonky and I think I will shake that tree and see what fall out.Thanks and any other suggestions would be appreciated.

I cannot find 1489 error listed in the manual Just a wild guess, but try the pause- cancel job button on the panel and see if you can cancel and reset before shutting down then restart. Or... Try leaving the printer unplugged overnight. Some errors retained in flash memory might possibly will dissappear after the power is off for more than a specified time and the printer returns to defaults. Worth a try!

Hi I bought the printer and the owner mentioned this problem as to why he had put the printer out to pasture but exclaimed, when I was buying it, that the problem was no longer there. That was probably because he was a cartridge short and so the remaining carts were registering just fine.

You didn't see a print come off the machine before you bought it?I hope you have recourse with the former owner, or has he already skipped town?I have a bridge for sale, Interested?

Hi David Where's that bridge located?I'd love to come and check it out.How much do you want for it?Actually, anyone on this forum would have done what I did.Let's just say it was priced accordingly.Now I have this monster printer sitting in our small living room, in between our 2 couches, so if anyone sits in them they have to peek through the Epson stand to converse with each other.Wife's not too happy.